Owner Comments:
The Pompeians. Q. Cornuficius. Spring-early summer 42 BC. Gilt AR Denarius (19mm, 3.86 g, 5h). North African mint, possibly Utica. Draped bust of Africa right, wearing elephant-skin headdress, two spears to left / Q. Cornuficius, veiled and in priestly robes, standing facing, holding lituus in right hand, crowned with wreath by Juno Sospita standing left, wearing goat-skin headdress and holding shield and spear in left; a crow perched on her shoulder; Q • CORN VFICI AVGVR • IMP around. Cf. Crawford 509/3; cf. CRI 229; cf. Amandry, "Le monnayage de Q. Cornuficius Àpropos de la découverte de la rue des Farges à Lyon, 1978" in Trésors monétaires XX. Paris. 2002, 3-6 (D2/R – [unlisted rev. die]; denarius); cf. Cornuficia 4. Pit on obverse affecting elephant's ear, punch mark on reverse, gilt broken in a few areas. VF. Extremely rare. In silver, the Africa head is the rarest of the three obverse types, previously known by only five examples, all of which are in museums. Only this example in CoinArchives.
Ex Randy Haviland Collection (Gemini X, 13 Jan 2013), lot 357 (hammer $15,000), purchased from Harlan J. Berk.
During the Roman civil war of 49-45 BC, Quintus Cornuficius sided with Julius Caesar. He had a distinguished career and won the favor of Julius Caesar in 48 BC when he recovered the province of Illyricum and defended it from attacks of the Pompeian fleet. As a reward, Caesar appointed him to the priestly college of augurs and with the praetorship. In 46 BC he was appointed governor of Cilicia and in the summer of 44 BC, after the assassination of Julius Caesar, he was made governor of the province of Africa Vetus by the Senate. Later that same year, the senate named a new governor of Africa Vetus, one Gaius Calvisius Sabinus. Cornuficius refused to relinquish the province. Near the end of 43 BC the triumviral government proscribed him and gave the province to Titus Sextius, leading to war between the two African governors. In early summer of 42 BC Quintus Cornuficius and his army were surrounded by the superior forces of Sextius near Utica. In the ensuing massacre the governor of Africa Vetus was defeated and killed, leaving his rival as master of both the African provinces. In the literary field Cornuficius gained respect as an accomplished orator and poet, establishing a close friendship with Cicero.
Early in 42 BC Cornuficius produced an artistic coinage in gold and silver, all of which are of considerable rarity today. The three obverse types relate to his province of Africa Vetus and share the same reverse depicting Cornuficius, as augur, in priestly robes being crowned by Juno Sospita, undoubtedly a reference to his Lanuvium origin. The accompanying reverse legend grants him the titles of augur and imperator. In silver, the Africa head is the rarest of the three obverse types, previously known by only five examples, all of which are in museums. The present type is unique in gold, acquired by the Archaeological Museum of Zagreb in 1929. The present coin is a silver denarius that was gilt in antiquity and struck with the same obverse die as D2 in Michel Amandry's study of the coinage of Q. Cornuficius. It is unquestionably ancient and is apparently the only example available for purchase.